Austin Jack Noyce - 4/21/2013

Sunday, April 21st (37 1/2 weeks)

Water broke 3am.  Showered.  Intense contractions (like 6-7 on scale to 10).  Called UT Dad.  Called Jenny Stoker.  Dropped kids off @ Jenny's around 4am.  (Turns out the kids talked the whole time, and Emily was staring at her husband while he was snoring on the couch).  Got to hospital around 4:30 am.  Was between 4-5 centimeters.  Set up  - got IV for antibiotics.  The blew my left vein and had to re-do it in my right.  Painful.)  Around 5-5:30 I was 6 cm.  Got epideral.  Contractions were CRAZY strong and painful.  Of course had contraction while getting the epideral.  6:45 I was a stretchy 7, almost 8 cm.  Got catherer put in at this point.  Austin's heart rate kept dipping with each contraction.  Had me sit up in the "throne" position to see if it would help.

7:05 His heart rate kept dropping really low with each contraction. He would go from around 160 to 80.  Kind of got scared hearing how sluggish the heart rate was during each contraction.  Nurse came in immediately.  Thought that cord might be wrapped around and that it was tightening with each contraction.  Set me up for amnio-fusion.  It is an interuterine catheter used to put warm IV fluid into the uterus to hopefully cushion him during the contraction so the cord wouldn't be so tight.  Already 10 cm at this point.  If possible they wanted to hold off to get the whole 4 hours of antibiotics.

7:15 - low, low dip in heart rate.  Put me on oxygen.
7:17 - gave me a shot to stop my contractions to hopefully give him a break.  Kept flipping me back and forth "like a pancake" to see if it would help him at all.
7:20 - Called Dr. stat.  Nurse said we needed to just get he baby out - set up stir-ups.  Heart rate started going up again at this point.  Waiting for Dr. DeChamps.  Another Dr. (I'm thinking a resident? - Michelle something) was in with me while we waited for DeChamps.
7:28 - Started pushing.  Contractions were more spread out because of shot given earlier.  Gave me pictocin to start contractions again.  First several pushes were worthless - couldn't feel anything because the epideral was so good and contractions weren't as strong yet.  Asked me if I wanted to stop pushing and wait it out for the antibiotics.  Opted to just keep going.

I finally started feeling the contractions again up top which helped out big time.  Also, they had me hold onto handles instead of knees.  When I held me knees I put more pressure on them than on the actual pushing.  The handles were fabulous and I got a serious shoulder and back workout (as I found out the next day).  Pushed and pushed - made tons of progress.  Could feel pressure (though no pain) when crowning.  Had him stay there in between contraction to help stretch.  Had to stop to wait for DeChamps to come in.  Dr. Michelle was doing everything at this point.  Next contraction he slid right out!

Put on my gown.  Looked good.  Ken told me later that he had the cord wrapped around his neck once.  Took a minute to cry.  Kenneth teared up a little bit - love that.  They asked Kenneth if he wanted to cut the cord - he said no thanks, I told him he had to.  Ha!  He did with the other two and I didn't want Austin to be left out.  Ken didn't even remember cutting Dannys.  Had lots of dark hair and looks just like the other kids - same nose and mouth.  5 lb 15 oz (biggest baby) 19in long.  Born at 8:17 am.  No tearing at all. Pushed out placenta.  Said there was a long cord.

Pediatricians took Austin to look at him.  One side of his chest was rising more than the other.  Could be normal, could mean there is a hole in his lung (called anemo?).  Took him to nursery to moniter for a little bit. Turned out to be just fine in the end.

Because of how small he was they were worried about body temp and low blood sugar.  Blood sugar when born was 30 - optimal is around 55.  Nursed a little, and at the nursury they gave him 11 cc of formula and the blood sugar level went up to around 45.  Ok.

Sunday night weight - 5lb 14 oz.

In nursery during night except for feeding. 1st night slept horribly (baby next door cried really loud).  2nd night was much better.

Monday 4 pm weight - 5lb 11oz.  Checked blood sugar level every 6 hours for the first 24.  Was good.  Discharged Tuesday around 10 am.  weight at discharge was 5lb 10 oz.

Bilirubin -

4/22 - 8 - low/intermediate risk
4/23 - 10.5 - intermediate risk
4/24 - 15 - intermediate/high risk
4/25 - 17.3 - high risk


based on trajectory, 4/26 would be above 20 - critical zone

4/25 received photo therapy to do at home.  Has to be in Bili-bed as much as possible.  Also have Bili-blanket for when nursing.

On 4/26 rechecked again.  Down to 15.1. Definitely an improvement.  To be safe, wanted to do 1 more night of photo therapy.

4/24 stats:
Weight: 5lb 11 oz. - 4%
Length: 19 in. - 17%
Head Circumference: 33.1 cm. - 10%

Emily's 2nd Birthday

On April 11th we celebrated Emily's 2nd birthday!!  I can't believe how big she is getting!  She is such a spunky, sweet little girl.  She loves to look at books, play with babies, ride her bike, play at the park, and loves airplanes!  She also is a big animal lover.  As such, we decided to make her a little farm cake...complete with pigs in the mud.

She loves her new doggy

The following Sunday we headed to Grandma & Grandpa's house to celebrate Emily & cousin Marcus' birthdays.  

Emily & her cousin Cami

A baby bottle...

...to feed her new baby!

A new purse and jewelry

Feeding her baby - she is kind of obsessed

Happy birthday my sweet, snuggly girl!  We had her 2 year appt. about a week after her birthday. She is very healthy and happy.  The Dr. was incredibly surprised at how well she speaks and is able to form sentences - our girl is definitely a talker!  Here are her stats at 2 years:

Weight - 23.59 lbs. - 12th %
Height - 33.46 in. - 48%
Head Circumference - 45.4 cm - 7th %

Easter 2013

Our city has a free Easter egg hunt and we were excited to have the kids participate.  Before it started the kids were thrilled to meet the Easter Bunny.

I was shocked!  Things didn't go so well last December with Santa, but the Easter Bunny was a whole different story

Emily was so enthralled! 

 The kids were very excited to explore the park before the egg hunt.  I think it is Danny's new favorite because of the "spider man" net.

The Famous Daves pig - thank you for the free kids' meals!

I love Danny here.  He was saying, "Mom!  I have his tail!"

 The actual Easter egg hunt was separated on the different fields depending on age.  Ken was with Danny and got a few pictures, but unfortunately I wasn't able to get any of Emily.  Emily had a lot of fun though.  I was shocked at how quickly all the eggs were collected!  I have learned that in the future we apparently need to run directly to the middle of the field, otherwise you only get a few on the outside.  No big deal though.  Emily had tons of fun!  According to Ken, Danny didn't really get what was going on.  He got so distracted and just wanted to open up the egg he had just picked up.  As a result Danny didn't get very many eggs.  Again, just fine with us.  They still had fun and weren't overwhelmed with candy!

On Easter morning, the kids woke up and found the Easter baskets that the Easter Bunny had hidden in the house.  He left Emily with a doll and a pony, and Danny was left with a big firetruck and an airplane.  Thanks Easter Bunny!  They had fun finding all the eggs that were left hidden in our living room too.  The Easter Bunny also left Danny a wonderful letter talking about our Savior and the Atonement.

After church we headed to Ken's parent's house for our Easter dinner.  The kids had so much fun!  Grandma set up a wonderful Easter Egg hunt in the house, and the kids loved playing with their cousins.  It is so fun to see their relationships strengthen and to see them actually becoming good friends.  They always so excited to see them.

I love this picture of Danny & Grandma

Ken's sister, Chantale and I are both pregnant, and are only 5 weeks apart.  We're both having boys, which is going to be so fun!  Everyone said we had to take a picture together.  I hate pregnancy pictures, but of course they weren't having that.  Here I am at 34 1/2 weeks (Chantale is about 29 1/2 weeks).

Our "sassy" photo

All the kids got new Easter outfits.  Emily got a cute little dress - I think she is just so adorable!

Ogden Train Museum

My kids are obsessed with a couple of things - airplanes, firetrucks and trains.  We go to the local Aerospace Museum quite often, and on March 23rd we decided to head out to the Ogden train museum in March for a little change of scene.  It was a chilly morning, but the kids had a blast anyway.  Outside of the museum are several trains, and the kids were in awe of how large and grand they were.

Here I am - about 33 1/2 weeks

 After we were felt we were thoroughly frozen we headed inside.  We didn't want to pay for the actual train museum (because why pay when the kids are thrilled with the free stuff) and instead had the kids play on the little train car located inside.  The kids loved it!

I'm definitely excited to head back again sometime when it is warmer so we can take the tour of the large trains outside.  The kids will love it!

Random Kid Pictures

Some random pictures of our cute kiddos:

Emily asleep on the stairs

Danny getting his hair cut.  We promised him a lollipop if he was good...he was trying to be so brave!  He usually hates getting his hair cut.  I love that he is covering his eyes.

I found Emily asleep outside of the kids' bathroom one morning...it was so cute!

Layton Park

In mid March we headed out to a local park in Layton to meet up with my friend Ashley and her son Jake.  The kids had a fabulous time!  This park was so awesome.  Definitely the new favorite.  Kenneth had the day off too, so he got to share in the fun.

Our little climber

"Mom!  This park has spinning wheels!" - Danny

Danny has been all about the monkey bars lately

Emily likes to poke her head out and says, "Hi Mom!  Love you Mommy!"

In order to be a good park, it had better have a fireman pole!

Emily taking a turn on the climbing wall

The best part of this park - the sand!  My kids love it!